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Anthrax Investigation: In America, 10 People Have Now Been Infected

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Health officials under pressure, did they do enough to protect D.C. postal workers?

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Relentless bombing raids in Afghanistan, including an oil tanker up in flames.

HARRIS: And a poignant moment at ground zero -- a quiet salute to one of the victims.

KAGAN: Good morning, everyone. It is Tuesday, October 23. From CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Daryn Kagan.

HARRIS: Long time no see.

KAGAN: I know. Good to see you.

HARRIS: Good to see you again.

KAGAN: A sight for sore eyes.

HARRIS: Same thing on.

Good morning, folks. I'm Leon Harris. We thank you for joining us.

We're going to begin this morning with the latest developments in America's war on terrorism, as we have.

And on the military front now, U.S. warplanes are turning their firepower on Taliban and al Qaeda troop positions in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says we're not holding back.

KAGAN: On the home front, new concerns about anthrax. Two workers at the central mail processing facility in Washington are dead. Anthrax is strongly suspected. Now all postal workers in the District of Columbia are being put on a 10 day regimen of antibiotics.

HARRIS: And at ground zero, the wreckage of the World Trade Center yields another victim. Four hundred seventy-three bodies have now been recovered. Four thousand four hundred fifteen people are still missing.

KAGAN: Let's go ahead and check on the military angle of this story.

There is a shift in the air campaign over Afghanistan. It is not a subtle shift. The U.S. is now focusing air strikes on Taliban and al Qaeda troop positions at key fronts.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says the idea is to destroy or weaken Taliban or al Qaeda fighters and help the Northern Alliance on its march to Kabul.

More on that in just a moment. But first, the latest on what's becoming the second front in the campaign against terrorism, and Leon has that.

HARRIS: That's right. That is the home front. The latest numbers now on the battle against anthrax in America. Ten people have now been infected. There are four cases of inhaled anthrax and six cases of skin anthrax. Another 32 people have been exposed to anthrax.

In the nation's capital, all mail goes through the Brentwood processing facility and anthrax is taking a heavy toll on postal workers there. Two Brentwood postal workers have been diagnosed with inhaled anthrax, which is the deadliest form of that disease, and two other Brentwood workers are now dead. Anthrax is the suspected cause in those cases.

But homeland security chief Tom Ridge says that suspicion is not confirmed just yet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM RIDGE, HOMELAND SECURITY DIRECTOR: We are still undergoing final tests to determine absolutely if these two deaths were related to anthrax exposure. The cause of death to date is unclear. But I'll tell you what is very clear. It is very clear that their symptoms are suspicious and their deaths are likely due to anthrax.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: More than 2,000 Washington area postal workers are being tested for possible anthrax exposure and now all postal workers in the District of Columbia will take antibiotics for the next 10 days. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the antibiotic treatment is prudent.

But as CNN's Susan Candiotti reports, some postal workers complained that officials were too slow to react to the anthrax danger.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the anthrax-tainted letter was opened in the office of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, almost immediately hundreds of Senate staffers were tested, even those nowhere near Daschle's office. But in New Jersey, it took six days to shut down the Trenton post office sorting facility after the first of two anthrax letters postmarked there came to light. That, after the first of two postal employees developed anthrax skin infection. And postal employees in the District of Columbia were still at work, even though that Trenton letter to Senator Daschle had to go through the Brentwood sorting office before going to Capitol Hill.

JACK POTTER, POSTMASTER GENERAL: We have been advised that if it's a sealed envelope that it would not transmit anthrax.

CANDIOTTI: But if Capitol Hill was shut down for testing, why not the postal center?

MELVIN THWEATT, POSTAL WORKER: For it to go to the Capitol, it has to come to our building anyway. You know, better safe than sorry. They should have closed it and then said all clear. No one said nothing. Keep working. Keep working.

CANDIOTTI: On Sunday, the first case of inhalation anthrax at the Brentwood sorting facility. And for the first time, 2,000 co- workers given antibiotics.

RIDGE: We took immediate steps to treat every worker who might have been exposed.

CANDIOTTI: But two postal workers from that same Brentwood facility died. Health officials say they suspect anthrax. One of those workers made two trips to the hospital for nausea and stomach cramps. The first time, Sunday, he was sent home.

DR. SCOTT KELSO, SOUTHERN MARYLAND HOSPITAL: We actually went and looked at the chest X-rays again, didn't see anything out of the ordinary. He had normal blood counts, had normal vital signs when he was sent home. So even after the fact of knowing how precipitously he declined, I don't think that any one of us would have done anything different.

CANDIOTTI: Did authorities move quickly enough to close the post offices? Some perspective. It took three days after photo editor Robert Stevens died October 5 of inhalation anthrax, before 700 American Media employees and visitors were tested in Florida. And that was the very first case.

So the answer from health officials about the decision to keep the Brentwood post office open is this.

DR. IVAN WALKS, D.C. HEALTH COMMISSIONER: This is a new day for us. We had given folks, as we always do, the best advice we had at the time.

CANDIOTTI: In the words of one official, this is a new phenomenon.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE) KAGAN: And let's go ahead and look at some of the numbers. We're interested in what you, the American public, has to say about the anthrax outbreaks. The latest CNN/"USA Today"/Gallup poll asks people if they're concerned that they or their family will be exposed to anthrax. Thirty-four percent of those questioned admit to being worried, but 66 percent say they are not concerned.

A clear majority, 52 percent, believe the recent anthrax incidents are the start of a sustained campaign. Thirty-eight percent disagree with that premise.

You have seen the HAZMAT suits, but there's a lot more to investigating cases of anthrax than just looking like an astronaut. From nasal swabs to air filter checks, the biological warfare troops scour the workplace like disease detectives. You can find out more by clicking onto cnn.com. You can find out why you could lose your shirt if your workplace is suspected of anthrax contamination.

HARRIS: Literally.

KAGAN: Yes.

HARRIS: There in that case.

All right, still to come this morning, the latest on U.S. air strikes in Afghanistan and some new reports of casualties as well.

KAGAN: Also later, Robin Cook, a member of the British war cabinet, joins us live from London.

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